Electrical connecting device



Oct. 6, 1970 A. H. BALIMAN ET AL 3,533,044

ELECTRICAL CONNECTING DEVICE Filed June 17, 1968 25 2? I 21 I 7 $6: I FIG. 3

ii i 14 II 7 k 2gb: 7 2 lNVE/VTORS TI 7/, 18 ALVIN H. BAUMAN I JOHN 'T. KOLIAS ANDREW RUSSIN 5 PAUL L. SMITH H6 2 WILLIAM K SPRINGFIELD 3,533,044 ELECTRICAL CONNECTING DEVICE Alvin H. Bauman, Endwell, John T. Kolias, Vestal, Andrew Russian, Ilinghamton, Paul L. Smith, Endicott, and William K. Springfield, Vestal, N. assignors to International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed June 17, 1968, Ser. No. 737,644 Int. Cl. HOlr 3/06 U.S. Cl. 339-14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A disengageable electrical connecting assembly for connecting conductors to the terminal means of a panelboard, printed circuit board or the like. The assembly panelboard comprises a molded plastic housing with a pair of fork-type connectors attached with the conductors of an electrical cable and then inserted into the connector housing. The housing is then in readiness for making a pluggable connection with a terminal pin and ground rail aflixed to the printed circuit board.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to disengageable electrical connectors for connecting cable conductors to the terminal means of a panelboard, printed circuit board or the like.

Description of the prior art A variety of connectors have been either used or proposed for connecting the printed circuit cards of a system; but a lack of reliability, versatility, economy and ruggedness is a common failing. With the advent of microminiaturization of printed circuit technology, there is a need for a connector assembly which is readily attachable and detachable and adaptable for nesting or gauging to accommodate the plurality of input/output signal connections and power connections with a printed circuit board.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The electrical connecting device of the present invention overcomes certain well-known disadvantages of prior construction and includes the features and advantages of providing a good disengageable electrical connector assembly enabling the connecting of wires of a cable with the terminal means of a printed circuit board or the like. Briefly, the electrical connecting device comprises a molded plastic housing having twin longitudinal cavities. The lower end of one cavity has a terminal pin entrance portion while the lower end of the second cavity has a. slotted rail receiving portion. The upper ends of the cavities are adapted to receive a pair of fork-type spring connectors which have been attached to the conductor element of an electrical cable in side-by-side relationship. The housing is provided with locking means such that outer side projections on the fork tines will engage therewith and be held in the housing. The inner sides of the fork tines are adapted to engage and make electrical Contact with the conductor elements of a panelboard or printed circuit board. The housing assembly, when mounted on a circuit board, will receive a terminal pin in the terminal pin receiving portion and a flat ground conductor rail in the rail receiving portion.

A feature of the instant device is that it enables a high performance wiring system. It is particularly adapted for the printed circuit art. It facilitates the connection of multi-wire fiat cable, tri-lead cable or coaxial cable wires and the like. It permits a low-cost method of terminating the wires. It provides a low-cost housing. It is provided nited States Patent O ice with cable termination means which may be latched into the housing to prevent unintentional removal therefrom. Further, the use of a pin and rail polarizes the connection and prevents unintentional grounding of the signal wir It is a primary object of the invention to provide an improved electrical connecting device for connecting cable conductors with the terminal means of a printed circuit board.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a connector housing adapted to receive fork-type terminals and connectable with the terminal post and ground rail terminal means of a printed circuit board.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a portion of a printed panelboard having terminal pins and ground rails extending therefrom and illustrating two arrangements for attaching the connecting devices with the terminal means of the printed panelboard in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a connector housing in accordance with the instant invention with fork-type terminals mounted on a terminal pin and ground rail;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a connector housing and show ing the fork-type terminals as mounted in a side-by-side manner;

FIG. 4 is a top view of an alternative embodiment of a connector housing and showing two pairs of fork-type terminals mounted in back-to-back and side-by-side arrangement; and

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 2 showing a fork-type terminal mounted in the housing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown, in accordance with the present invention, a portion of a panelboard 10 having a plurality of terminal pins 11 mounted in rows thereon. The ground conductor rails 12 and 13 are located between the pin rows as shown.

The connector assembly of the present invention functions as an electrical connecting means for connecting the electrical conductive elements of cables to the terminal connectors on a panelboard. The connector assembly of the present invention, which is adapted to be disengageably mounted on a pin 11 and ground conductor rail 12 or 13, comprises a molded plastic housing 14 having twin longitudinal cavities 15 and 16. The lower end of cavity 16 has a square terminal pin entrance portion 17 while the lower end of cavity 15 has a slotted rail receiving portion 18. While in the showing of th preferred embodiment a square terminal pin entrance portion 17 is shown, it may be pointed out that another shaped hole such as a round or oval may be used in conjunction with a square pin 11 or a round pin (not shown) Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The upper ends of the cavities 15 and 16 are adapted to receive a pair of fork-type spring connectors 20 which have been attached to the ends of the conductor elements of an electrical cable 21 in side-by-side relationship. The housing 14 is provided with locking apertures 22 such that the outer side projections 20a of the fork tines will engage therewith and be held in the housing 14. The inner sides 20b of the fork tines are adapted to engage in straddling relationship and make electrical contacts with the terminal pin 11 of panelboard 10. The housing assembly when mounted on a circuit board will receive a pin 11 in the terminal pin receiving portion 17 and a flat ground conductor rail 12 or 13 in the rail receiving slot 18.

It may be noted that ground conductor rails 12 and 13 are of different height with respect to the surface of the panelboard 10. Consequently, the space, if any, between a housing assembly 14 and the circuit board 10 is controlled by the height of the ground conductor rails 12 or 13. Consequently, connections may be provided between the terminal pin 11 in the region between the connector assemblies 14 and the panelboard 10 wherein the conductors 24 are connected by welded or wrap-type connections.

The panelboard 10 make-up may optionally be an arrangement having rows of terminal pins 11 with a single ground conductor rail between the adjacent rows of terminal pins 11 or an arrangement having rows of terminal pins 11 with a U-shaped ground conductor rail between the adjacent rows of terminal pins so as to accommodate the disengageable mounting of housings 14 to the panelboard 10 in a side-by-side manner. As a result of such arrangements, a large number of connections can be made with any panelboard 10. Other arrangements are conceivable without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The connector assembly of the instant invention is a pluggable electrical connect and disconnect means for connecting twin-lead cables comprising a signal and ground conductor with a panelboard; tri-lead cables comprising three dissimilar parallel conductors in a predetermined space relationship, not necessarily symmetrical, and wherein the outer conductors are of a larger size functioning as ground wires and the center conductor is of a smaller size functioning as the signal conductor; and coaxial cables having a concentrically arranged signal conductor surrounded by a layer of insulation, a ground shield and possibly another layer of insulation. The tri-lead and coaxial cables may very desirably possess transmission line characteristics.

Each fork-type terminal is crimped to a conductor 25 by means of a pair of crimped connections 26 and 27, with the fork-type terminal 20 being secured to the signal element 25a of the wire by a crimp 26 and to the insulated sheath or layer of the wire by means of crimp 27. The fork-type terminals 20 comprise an elongated fiat portion having a slot extending axially inward from its end with the inner portion of the slot being approximately equal to the width of a panelboard terminal pin 11. Inwardly directed contact projections 20b are provided on the opposed edges of the tines adjacent the ends thereof which are spaced relatively close together so that a pressure electrical contact will be established between the projections 20b and the terminal pin 11 when the fork-type terminals 20 are moved into straddling relationship when mounted on the terminal pins 11 of the panelboard 10.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown the plan view of an arrangement wherein a pair of fork-type terminals 20 are mounted within a housing 14 in side-by-side relationship. The upper ends of the longitudinal cavities 15 and 16 have a cross-section which is sufficiently large to admit two pairs of fork-type terminals in side-by-side and backto-back relationship, as shown by the illustration of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the connector housing 14 along the lines 55 of FIG. 2 and showing the alignment of a fork-type terminal as it is adapted to be connected with a terminal pin and ground rail. It may be noted that while only a single fork-type terminal 20 is shown, there is provided adequate space to receive the lower portion of another fork-type terminal 20 to enable a back-to-back relationship.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical connector assembly, the combination comprising:

(a) a panelboard having a plurality of rows of terminal pins mounted on and extending therefrom;

(b) a flat ground conductor rail mounted on and extending at a right angle from the panelboard and arranged in an alternate manner between said rows of terminal pins;

(c) a pair of fork-type spring connectors attached to the conductor elements of an electrical cable;

(d) a molded plastic housing having twin longitudinal cavities, the lower end of one cavity having a terminal pin entrance portion and the other lower end having a rail receiving portion, the upper ends of the longitudinal cavities being adapted to receive said pair of fork-type spring connectors in side-by-side relationship; and

(e) the inner sides of said fork-type spring connectors being adapted to engage and make electrical contact with a terminal pin and fiat ground conductor rail respectively.

2. An electrical connector assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said molded plastic housing is provided with locking apertures such that outer side projections on the fork-type spring connectors will engage therewith and be held within said housing.

3. An electrical connector assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein the flat ground conductor rails are of predetermined height and the distance between said molded plastic housing assembly and the panelboard is controlled by the height of the ground conductor rail.

4. An electrical connector assembly, the combination comprising:

(a) a panelboard having a plurality of rows of terminal pins mounted on and extending therefrom;

(b)- a plurality of fiat ground conductor rails forming a pair of parallel ground rails mounted on and extending at right angles from the panelboard and arranged in an alternate manner between said rows of terminal pins;

(c) a pair of fork-type spring connectors adapted for attachment with the conductor elements of an electrical cable;

(d) a molded plastic housing having twin longitudinal cavities, the lower end of one cavity having a terminal pin entrance portion and the other lower end having a rail receiving portion,'the upper ends of the longitudinal cavities being adapted to receive said pair of fork-type spring connectors in side-by-side relationship; and

(e) the inner sides of said fork-type spring connectors being adapted to engage and make electrical contact with a terminal pin and flat ground conductor rail respectively.

5. An electrical connector assembly as defined in claim 4 wherein said molded plastic housing is provided with locking apertures such that outer side projections on the fork-type spring connectors will engage therewith and be held within said housing.

6. An electrical connector assembly as defined in claim 4 wherein the flat ground conductor rails are of predetermined height and the distance between said molded plastic housing and the panelboard is controlled by the height of the ground conductor rail.

7. An electrical connector assembly, the combination comprising:

(a) a panelboard having a plurality of rows of terminal pins mounted on and extending therefrom;

(b) a plurality of substantially U-shaped flat ground conductor rails mounted on and extending from said panelboard and arranged in an alternate manner between said rows of terminal pins;

(c) an electrical cable having at least two conductor elements;

(d) a pair of fork-type spring connectors adapted for attachment to the conductor elements of said electrical cable;

(e) a molded plastic housing having twin longitudinal cavities, the lower end of one cavity having a terminal pin entrance portion and the other lower end having a slotted rail receiving portion, the upper ends of the longitudinal cavities being adapted to receive at least a pair of fork-type spring connectors in sideby-side relationship; and

(f) the inner sides of said fork-type connectors being adapted to engage and make electrical contact with a terminal pin and flat ground conductor rail respectively.

8. An electrical connector assembly as defined in claim 7 wherein said molded plastic housing is provided with locking apertures such that outer side projections on the fork-type spring connectors will engage therewith and be held within said housing.

9. An electrical connector assembly as defined in claim 7 wherein the flat ground conductor rails are of predetermined height and the distance between said molded plastic housing and the panelboard is controlled by the height of the ground conductor rail.

10. An electrical connector assembly as defined in claim 7 wherein the upper ends of the longitudinal cavities in said molded plastic housing are adapted to receive two pairs of fork-type spring connectors in a side-by-side and a back-to-back relationship.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,960,674 11/1960 Harton 33914 3,086,074 4/1963 Just et al. 3,323,099 5/1967 Spera 339-192 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner J. H. McGLYNN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.]R. 339217 

